4 Replies to “Writing in L.A.”

Not to be knock Dan Harmon, who is a great writer, but what is the point of him telling us this? Does he expect anyone to be shocked, or even remotely surprised by the fact that Dreamworks isn’t an artists first, altruistic organization?

I suppose it might make Mr. Harmon feel better to vent and I wouldn’t deny him that right but as Hyman Roth said to Michael Corleone in The Godfather II: “This is the business we’ve chosen”.

I have never worked for Dreamworks Animation, but I have worked for other cmpanies and projects where the writing seems to be secondary. It depends wholeheartedly on the role of the Storyboard Artists. Some shows have Storyboard Artists work straight from scripts where they don’t have much creative leeway, they just draw what they’re given.

However, there are other shows where the Storyboard Artist has just as much, if not more, creative input than the writer. Of course, in the wrong hands, this is a complete and total disaster. In the right hands with a truly gifted Storyboard Artist it makes the process truly sublime, and they deserve credit as such.

Again, I have not worked for Dreamworks Animation, although I’ve had plenty of similar nightmare scenarios in my writing career.